Eyes of Night
by The 80lb Carrot
Summary: Ami starts her life over again when she is forced to leave behind everything she loved.
1. Blinding Blue Light

Blinding Blue Light

By: The 80lb Carrot

Disclaimer: They're aren't mine and even if you sued I don't have anything of value. 'Cept for my field hockey stick and don't you dare take that.

Rating: R-language/violence/sexual references/hinted homosexuality 

Summary: Ami starts her life over when she is forced to leave behind everything she loved. 

Note: If you want it, ask. And "whatever" is speaking, whatever is thoughts, and _whatever_ is a dream. And I do have some same sex pairing, sorry if you don't like that. Nothing explicit (I don't do that) but it is told outright. Trowa/Quatre, Neptune/Uranus

I DON'T READ GUNDAM WING! CHALK MISTAKES UP TO IGNORANCE!

Some of what happens in my story is very unexplainable so please just go along with it, ok?

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A youma. One single you-freaking-ma had been all that was needed to bring the entire team to their knees and lower--the entire team save her. All fourteen of them: eight scouts, Chibi-Usa, Mamoru, and the four generals. The Silver Millennium had just started, and was just ending. This demon had abilities they'd never faced before, more abilities than they'd ever faced before and it had taken them down one by one until she was the only one left. It had made duplicates of itself, ganging up on them until they fell. Sailor Venus was the first to go, with a heart-wrenching scream that tore through their very souls. Neptune was next, Uranus, toughest of them all, gave up and died on the spot after that. When Sailor Moon was killed, Chibi-Usa and Mamoru both giving their lives to protect her, they knew they were in serious trouble.

One by one the others fell. Malachite collapsed, bleeding freely, on top of Venus' broken body. Saturn died without a word or a whisper. Zoisite and Nelphrite were killed as they tried to protect the fallen Jupiter, and with them gone she was mercilessly cut down. Mars and Jadeite died together, knowing they could not survive and choosing to go sealed in eternity's kiss, finally agreeing on something. Even Pluto was found lying in a pool of her own blood at her Gates. Leaving Ami on her own.

A hand touched at her ankle, someone was still alive! She pushed blood from her eyes and kept fighting, if she were to stop they would both die. She felt herself suddenly flooded with energy, and then heard Serenity take one final breath and die. No, no! It should be the other way around! *I* should die to save *Serenity*, not, not like this! Oh please, someone help me! Ami overflowed with rage and helplessness at watching her friends die, she was alone once again, stranded friendless all because of one demon. One stupid demon had cost her all she had worked for, all she had ever wanted. It had killed her friends. Killed Zoisite, her only love. Killed them all, every single one of them. They were dead, gone, never coming back. She was alone, alone, alonealonealone. No no no no no nononononononononoooooooooo! 

Mercury gathered all the strength and energy she had remaining, all Sailor Moon had died to give her, and released it with a blood-curdling scream, the bolt of lightening blue striking the original youma head on. It radiated, blinding them both for a few seconds as shrapnel flew in every direction. Blue stinging her vision, Ami rubbed her eyes clear, just in time to roll away from the blast it retaliated with. This thing had blocked every magical attack anyone had thrown at it, from celestial fire to the love-me chain to moon cleansing, without any harm done to itself. It was unbeatable, it deflected every single thing she threw at it. No magic could harm it. No magic . . . 

Her fingers reached blindly towards the ground, grasping something hard. Something cool, long, solid--metal. A sword, one with an ice-blue handle. "Well, Zoisite," she whispered with a cold smile, "You will take a hand in getting rid of this bastard." Then, the smile still in place, she took a running start and leapt, swinging the sword high above her head. She screamed like a beast, bounding off its chest to its shoulders. All it took was one strike and the youma's head went rolling across the ground. One by one his duplicates disappeared, their power source gone. She had won, and what an empty victory it was.

Her friends, the closest thing she had to a family, lay at her feet. The love of her life was cold and unmoving, the blood having finished flowing from his limp body. Tears flooded from her eyes as she fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands. They came away stained red. There was a long gash above her eyes and one under where flying rock had hit her. Now that she rested she could no longer feel her legs and her back hurt to hell's end. Her left wrist, hand, and three fingers were smashed, just looking at them made her sick. Her stomach was battered, probably bleeding internally, and she felt as if she would retch and never stop. Her long hair was soaked in blood--hers, her friends', the youma's--and her uniform was drenched. She was going to die soon, there was nothing she could do about it. And even if she lived there was nothing for her to live for. Throwing her head back she screamed, wrath mingling with pure helplessness. Zoisite's sword still in her hand she knew what she felt she had to do. Cursing the heavens and the day she was born, she held the blade, hovering, over her chest. Crying softly she took a deep breath and - 

"NO!"

Ami's head twisted to the source of the voice, only to be blinded by a searing light. It called to her and she had to respond. Never releasing the sword she lifted herself from the blood of her friends and faced it. Shielding her eyes with her free hand she saw that it was a portal on the other side of which lay a wide field and huge building. Blade hanging limply at her side she walked towards it . . . 

*-*

"Heero."

The young man snapped his head up at the sound of his name, Prussian blue eyes dark as always. He was bent over a strange looking machine, grease and sweat mingling on his face. Gundam pilot 01, the Perfect Solider, Heero Yui, whatever you called him, he always responded to orders, this time was no different. He was silent, awaiting further instructions. "There's something funny on the far eastern border, go check it out." With a nod he left the building on foot.

And picked up a speeder on the way there. It was not by far a long journey, but a boring one none the less. At first he saw nothing unusual at the eastern border, until a sudden flash of light temporarily blinded him. Instinct pulled his gun from its holster but by the time his vision cleared and he could see again, the light was gone. In its place remained only an unconscious girl.

She was lying partially on her back, partially on her side as if she had fallen, her head face up and rolled to the side. Aqua blue hair was tied loosely back in a long pony tail, wild strands escaping all over the place. She was dressed in a strange version of a white and blue sailor fuku. She would have been very beautiful had she not been covered in blood. Cerulean hair was clotted with it, it leaked everywhere from gashes in pale skin. A pool of it was spreading out from under her back. The bottoms of her knee high boots were deep maroon even an inch from their base and they were splattered all the way up to her mid-calf as if she had been wading through it. In her right hand she had a death grip on a blood-stained sword with a cold blue handle. Heero had to merely let it dangle as he carried her broken body as he could not force her to release it.

*-*

__

He was a spectator here, he knew that by instinct. All he could do was sit back and watch no matter what happened or how much he wanted to change it. A horrible, blood-curdling yell echoed in his ears and he turned to see what sort f creature could have made it. What he saw was a girl only a few years younger than himself take off the head of a huge demon with an ice-handled sword. The reason for her rage lay at her feet--the mutilated bodies of girls dressed like she and boys they obviously had known. One of the dead, he noted, could have been no older than twelve.

He watched as the beauty sunk to her knees beside the carnage that was her friends. The salt of her tears mixed with the salt of her blood until rivers of red ran down her face. Her neck arced back she screamed once again and a more feral sound he had never heard, not even through his years of war. It ripped through his ears as it ripped through her throat. He watched in horror as she lifted the sword above herself, obviously planning to use it to end her life and be with her friends, tears still streaming down her face. Even though he knew it was useless, he felt he had to do something. His voice sounded raw even to himself. "NO!"

And then he woke up.

*-*

"Barton!" Heero barked out to the fist person he saw, "Get a medic in there, now!" The quiet man took one looking at the bleeding, still-unconscious girl and went running for a doctor. Each second she spent under like she was, was a second she might never wake up from. Heero took her to the med center and laid her flat on the nearest table he could. The white sheet under her was slowly dyed red with her blood. On the ride back he had put the speeder on auto-pilot so he could have his hands free to staunch the bleeding before she died from it. Now all that was left of his shirt were a few strips of black cloth and she was covered from head to toe in dark bandages. He had wiped most of the blood from her skin but it still clotted her hair and clothes and there had been nothing he could do for her broken left wrist. He had finally managed to pry the sword from her fingers, it now lay in the speeder.

The medic arrived in just a few seconds, Trowa Barton right behind him. The former immediately realized how much blood the girl had lost and took a sample, giving out orders like a general to his troops. Anyone with type A blood was told to get down to the med center, stat! Duo Maxwell was the first to arrive, followed by Wufei and one other person and the announcement was canceled, no more volunteers were needed. Heero watched Dou's eyes go wide at the sight of the girl but thought nothing of it. His long-haired friend was always checking out the ladies. Each of the three men gave as much blood as was needed of him, but Duo was the only one who stayed behind. Just for a few seconds, however, leaving after throwing one last glance at the girl. Puzzled, Heero placed her in the med unit and slid it shut. It would speed up the healing process and help to revive her if it wasn't already too late.

If.

The next morning she was still catatonic, still perfectly unmoving, but slight healed which meant she wasn't dead yet. Her left wrist was stronger and the three fingers that had previously been smashed no long hung like limp bags of flesh. She would never regain full use of that hand, but it would still work. Her pale skin was very discolored as bruises were setting in and healing, features swollen and now disfigured. The pilots started to keep shifts in the med lab just in case she proved to be a threat when she awoke. For the next two days things went on as usual, for the next two days she still slept in her healing state of unconsciousness.

"Anything new, Maxwell?" Wufei's voice asked over the intercom.

Duo shook his head, braid flying. "Nah, the babe's still under. She's looking better though. But I've got an idea. Howsabout you guys leave me alone and I'll call *you* if anything happens. Sound like fun? Good, glad you agree." Then without a response he shut down the communication. He could just see his teammate swearing in his native language, and grinned. Wufei was so easy to annoy. He was jerked from his thoughts when someone else moved in the room. She was awake!

She opened one eye, then the other, squinting against the bright lights. Licking her dry lips she blinked a few times and drew a deep breath. Wincing with pain she tried to sit up, but was pushed back down. "Easy babe, don't try to move too much. You nearly lost a good hunk of your spine a few days ago." Though his smile was friendly she did not miss that his hand never strayed from the gun strapped to his hip. "You feeling better than you were?"

"Where am I?" Her voice was dry and raspy, harsh and torn. Before he could answer her body was wracked with a long series of uncontrollable coughs. She hunched over on her side shaking violently and unable to breathe. Several long cuts reopened and by the time she was finished coughing he had to bandage her up all over again. She caught her breath and asked one more time. "Where am I?" Ocean blue eyes tinged with black stared at him coolly and levelly, never breaking the gaze. Their similarity to Heero's sent a shiver down his spine.

"Earth," he told her, "In what remains of Tokyo, Japan." 

Her eyes went wide in shock and confusion. "'What remains?'" she echoed.

Duo nodded. "I've never been too sure by all the details. If you want a crash course in 'Earth and the Colonies 101' ask Heero. He'd know." The look on her face plainly said 'who?' and he answered. "Heero is the guy that brought you here, saved your life. Somehow he found you out on the east border before you died out there. You'll know him when you see him, real quite, brooding kind of guy."

"What year is it, and the date?"

This question puzzled him. She wasn't an amnesiac, was she? "196 AC, March 20th."

She frowned. "What year did you switch from AD to AC?" He was silent for a few seconds, thinking, then told her. "And how long was I unconscious?" Again, he told her. "Three days!" Her face went slack in surprise. Then her brow knotted in confusion. "But that's the same year, same *day* that . . . I've hopped dimensions, haven't I?"

So she's not amnesiac, she's insane, he thought for a moment, kind of taken aback by the matter-of-fact way she said it. But then he remembered the technology they had, a machine that allowed 'dimension-hopping'. It had been invented well over two centuries ago but never used for reasons unknown to him. "You never know, could have happened. Hey babe, how 'bout I start asking the questions. You got a name?"

She smiled. It was a cold smile that barely tugged at her lips and didn't reach her eyes. "I haven't decided on one yet."

Duo brushed aside her contempt. "And how did you get here?"

"You know as well as I do."

"Where were you from?"

"It doesn't exist now."

"Will you ever give me a straight answer?'

"Depends on whether or not I want to."

"Did you know you're a most infuriating girl?"

"Actually I had no idea." She now sat up, ignoring the obvious pain she was in and refusing to let Duo push her back down again. To her credit she managed to do so in a was that prevented her cuts from reopening. "I have asked," she said sternly, glaring at him coolly, "That the day I am to weak to even support myself be the day I am put out of my misery."

He looked at her skeptically. "When did you decide that?"

Again that same half-smile. "30 seconds ago." With her good hand she traced the dry scabs that marred her body, from the deep, jagged one at her calf to the wide, particularly painful one at the small of her back. It finally rested at her throat where narrowly missing a shot to the head had resulted in a long scratch that reached from directly below her right ear to where her neck joined her left shoulder. Drawing and releasing a deep breath she stared at her repairing wrist. "Is this going to heal soon?" she asked with a barely detectable hit of worry in her voice, running a finger lightly over the still-shattered bone.

Duo shrugged. "Doc says you smashed it up pretty damn--'scuse me, darn--good, like there wasn't a intact bone in the whole thing." She muttered something he barely caught, something like 'no wonder it hurt so much' but he brushed it off. "So how'd you do that to yourself, babe?" She was about to respond when Heero and Wufei rushed into the room.

"Maxwell," Wufei growled, his eyes narrowed, "You were supposed to tell us when she woke up. She could have been dangerous."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow, smiling the way she had. "'Could have been dangerous?'" she mimicked, hollow laughter echoing in her words. "My, my, you are arrogant. Simply because I do not look dangerous does not mean that I am not." She gestured towards her cuts and bruises carefully with her left hand. "Having a broken body doesn't mean I can't kill you without lifting a finger." Infuriated, the Chinese man had pulled his gun from its holster and jammed it against her forehead before anyone could stop him. She didn't flinch, didn't waver, merely stared evenly at him down the sides of the barrel. "That would kill me," she said matter-of-factly, "But I'll play on your conscience that you won't pull the trigger."

"05," Heero said coldly, careful not to give out any names as Wufei had done, "Put the gun down." Glaring and grumbling he did as he was told though his hand never strayed from the holster. Heero didn't take his eyes from the strange girl as he approached her. "You are going back to sleep and into the med unit until you are fully healed," he said almost hypnotically.

"I most certainly am not!" she interjected. "This," she said, pointing to her left hand, "Will never heal properly and I am not staying in your infernal machine forever. Three days was more than enough, thank-you-very-much. I am getting out of here and finding out what the fuck is going on and what I can do to make a living in this place." She didn't scream, she didn't yell, and she most definitely didn't leave any room for argument. She then swung her legs over the side of the bed and promptly fainted where she stood.

She awoke ten minutes later to the sound of arguing.

"She claims she's from another dimension!"

"That's not possible!"

"Actually, Wufei, it is. We have the technology."

Wufei, that was who had attacked her. Nice information to be taken and stored for later use. She lay silent and unmoving for a while, pretending to still be unconscious while listening to their conversation. Wufei was the next to speak. "Yui," another name, now she could identify all three, "We don't even know who she is, for all we know she could be a more solid form of those ghosts!" 

Ghosts, what ghosts?

"I do not find it hard to believe that she came from another dimension. Before I found her, I found a portal." She put that information together with what Maxwell had told her and deduced that this was Heero Yui. However, he was not done speaking. "Just because she's dressed like the ghosts are reported to do at times does not mean she's one of them." 

WHAT!

"Have you ever looked at the sketches drawn of those things?" demanded Maxwell, "She looks exactly like one of them."

She had to get more information on these things they were talking about. "Aren't you boys a little old to believe in ghosts?"

They all turned to stare at her as she sat up again, this time stabilizing herself before standing.

"Tell me about them. Now."

And they did. Heero talked for the most part aside from the occasional joke by Duo or snide remark from Wufei. Evidently the city of Tokyo had been deserted after the continual appearance of a large group of 'ghosts', no matter that they were harmless. The coming of the ghosts had somehow been connected with the invention of the 'dimension hopper' as both had come around at about the same time. A total of fifteen ghosts had been spotted, each hundreds of times, usually in one of two outfits. The three pilots pulled up a description and let their newcomer read them. It did not take her long and when they looked at her for a reaction they found none. She opened her mouth to say something when two more people rushed in with guns half drawn, a blonde with blue eyes and a brunette with green. "Do you people always travel in pairs?" she muttered sarcastically.

"Pardon the intrusion, Master Heero," the blonde said very politely, "But when there was no transmission of any sort from here we could only assume the worst. Thankfully we were quite wrong." He then turned to the unknown girl and bowed slightly at the waist. "Good day, ma'am, I pray you are feeling better?"

She was absolutely taken aback by his kindness and courtesy. Between the joking, arrogant Maxwell, the jumpy and violent Wufei, and the brooding Heero, she hadn't expected anyone in this place to have any semblance of politeness. And to be confronted with this? "I am feeling quite well, sir, thank you for your concern," she returned with a slight inclination of her head.

"What's your name?" Heero suddenly interrupted.

She smiled that smile of hers that Duo was coming to hate. "As I have told Maxwell-"

"-Duo, babe, it's just Duo."

"As I have told Duo, I haven't decided yet." They were all confused, replying with different versions of 'what the hell', all except Duo. He leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, and smiled. "I'll probably come up with one in the next few days," she told them, explaining, "I figured new place, new life, new name-" She was going to continue speaking but was cut off by a long series of coughs even more violent than what Duo had seen before. She doubled over and sunk to her knees, her body shaking with spasms. When a spot of red appeared on her hands, the boys reacted. Between them Heero and Duo lifted her onto the bed while Quatre put a cold cloth to her forehead and wiped her mouth and hands clean of blood. Trowa stilled her arm as Wufei pushed a cart over, together they attached her to two IV's, one medication and one sedatives. Within a few moments they took effect and she stilled, her body now more relaxed. After the brief crisis was over, the pilots turned to each other.

Duo was the first to speak. "What do we do now?"

There was silence, then Heero answered. "Nothing. She'll heal and learn to support herself."

"So we're just going to abandon her?"

Wufei replied this time. "She's not our responsibility. What else should we do?"

*-*

It was six in the morning. Not only that, it was six in the morning and he was up and moving around. Willingly. No emergency, no before-dawn training, he was just awake. He couldn't go back to sleep so he got up and decided to go for a walk. There was nothing else to do and if he took a jog as well he could keep up his conditioning and not let himself get out of shape while they were stranded in Tokyo.

Of all the places to be stranded, on the Earth and off, Tokyo was lowest on his list. Ok, lowest save for Dallas--that one was just a junk heap. But with their gundams lost in the cosmos and no ships to go search for them or even get out of the city they had nothing to do but hope and stay in shape. They had speeders but those were only good for a couple of miles over land, and Tokyo was on an island. So they were stuck there, even more specifically they were stuck in a huge fortress on the edges of the city, as they had been for the past week and a half.

Tokyo and the entire island of Japan had become a dump site for criminals no one else could take care of. Prisoners of war were there also and the pilots and the few that had come with them quickly scooped them up to be security. The fortress area was large and very well walled in, but attacks were made and the security was nice to have around. He chose to take his walk on the farthest reaches he could, as close as he could get to the city.

"Identification please. And hands off the gun."

Duo turned towards the security guard, a grin on his face that got even wider as he saw who it was. She was completely healed for the most part, save a bandage around her left wrist and a long scar across her neck. Long blue hair had been pulled into a loose ponytail that hung down her back and she was now dressed in jeans and a t-shirt instead of her earlier outfit. A sword, sheathed and handled in ice blue, hung from her hip. "Long time no see. It's been what, a week, ten days?"

She made a face and put her own gun down. "Two weeks Duo."

His mischievous grin broadened. "Too long. When's your shift end?"

"Six thirty. Why?"

He looked down at his watch. It was six twenty at the moment. "No reason." He then realized something and asked her about it. "You have to have a name to be part of the security force. What'd you decide on?"

"I put down a bogus name when I was told I could change it at any time."

Does she ever smile like a normal person? he asked himself. He was about to ask what that bogus name was when he saw it written on her ID badge. Aino Minako. It was pretty enough, but seemed too innocent to really suit her. "Have you decided on a real name yet?" he asked hopefully, making his best puppy dog eyes.

She shook her head. "It hasn't hit me yet."

"Oh."

There was silence for a few moments, then at precisely six thirty a speeder pulled into view and stopped not far from them. A man in his late twenties swung over the side and landed firmly on both feet. He was tall and well built with dark red hair, honey brown eyes, and a large splash of freckles across his cheeks and nose. He grinned and waved. "Morning, Minako. Shift's up!" He looked over at Duo, a slight frown appearing. "Good morning to you too, Mr. Maxwell. Didn't realize you two knew each other." He ruffled the girl's hair as she walked past, a wistful look on his face.

She reached up and bopped him lightly upside the head. "It's not like that, silly. He was one of the people who kept me alive when I first got here, that's all. I haven't even seen him for two weeks." She hopped into the speeder and Duo followed. "Have fun, Philip!" she called as they left, waving to him. Just before they were out of view, Duo saw him waving back.

He tuned to the girl seated beside him. "He jealous of me or something?"

She shook her head. "Jealous, yes. Of you, no." He looked confused to she elaborated further. "Simply put, Philip has the same sexual interests I do." Duo raised an eyebrow in sudden surprise and she sighed. "Don't go giving him any grief about it, he's proud of how and who he is. I mean, hell, it kept him out of their service and if nothing else that works for me."

"I accepted homosexuality as a fact of life years ago," he replied. "You commented two weeks ago on how Quatre and Trowa travel together. Now you know why." Her face knotted in confusion and he took it upon himself to explain. "Trowa was the one with brown hair over one eye, Quatre's the only blonde." He frowned. "But technically I'm not supposed to tell you that so don't go spreading it around."

Finally a different smile, this one mischievous. "Tell anyone what?" she asked innocently.

He grinned. "Thanks."

They passed a large crater on their way to the fortress about a mile from the main building. It was about two hundred feet in diameter and ten feet deep. The rock it had been made in was cracked through its entire length and it looked like nothing had grown there in quite some time. "What is that?" she asked, trying to shake off the sense of foreboding it gave her. She had slowed the speeder to nearly a stop as they passed, never taking her eyes off the crater and staying riveted to her seat.

"That?" Duo asked, indicating the huge indention in the earth. "Supposedly the ghosts originated from there and then spread out through the city. Most of the weird sightings take place here. Someone once claimed to have seen a huge crystal palace that took up the almost the whole thing and extended even further outside the crater, but no one's ever been able to prove that. Want to check it out?" He started to step out of the vehicle.

She shook her head violently. "No, let's go."

Then a figure appeared near the center of the gulf. It was a blonde girl of just above average height who looked like she was dead. When she raised her head to look at them there was no life in her blue eyes. Hair so blonde it seemed white flowed loosely from two messy buns at the top of her head. Her sailor uniform of pink and gold was torn in several places and in her right hand she held half a scepter. Slowly she forced herself to her feet. Blood flowed freely down one side of her face from a severe, possibly fatal wound to the head and there wa a long slash across her stomach that she held closed with one hand. She turned her gaze on the blue-haired girl that sat trembling beside him and mouthed three words. "You left us."

He was slammed against his seat as the speeder set off at a violent pace.

Duo kept an eye on 'Minako' through the remainder of the ride, watching carefully as the color returned slowly to her skin and her breathing went back to normal. She still trembled and her hands shook as they gripped the steering wheel, but she stared straight ahead and didn't say anything. They reached the fortress in record time and when he got her attention she was still paler than ever and wouldn't meet his eyes. "You ok?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"Yea."

"I'll meet you here tomorrow, same time."

"Whatever."

He turned to go, but turned back again. "What *is* your name?"

She paused, then looked up at the brightening sky. "Night," she said softly as the moon and Venus winked down at her, "Eyes of Night."

*-*

Duo practically bounded through the main compound, barging into Heero's room to find that the pilot was unsurprisingly already awake. He sat on his bed, a gun and polishing cloth in his lap. "So that's how those are always so shined," Duo muttered, then caught the death glare from his leader and got to the point. "I found her!" he said, "The girl you rescued two weeks ago!" There was a definite spark of interest in Heero's eyes and he continued. "She's working on security force. SF even gave her the dead-shift. We saw a ghost on the way back when we passed the crater and she freaked."

"Still 'she?'" Heero asked, "No name yet?"

Duo motioned with one hand for him to shush. "I'm getting to that. anyways, this ghost actually looked dead, and didn't seem too happy about it. It was that really girly one with the funny pig-tail buns. She said something to Night that seriously scared her. Didn't think speeders could go quite *that* fast-"

Heero cut him off. '''Night?' Is that what she calls herself?"

"Now it is," he told him, "Up until now she's gone by something Japanese, Aino Minako I tink. She changed it to Eyes of Night this morning, wherever the hell she got name like that. They've got her on the early morning shift nearest the city." He leaned back against the wall, hands at the back of his head, and grinned devilishly. "I'm seein' her again for breakfast tomorrow. And after that, who knows?"

The other man sighed. "I only asked you to locate her, Duo. Not date her."

"Aw, come on boss. You don't have to ask me to do that."

-*-

What am I doing! her mind screamed as she parked the speeder in the garage and hopped out of the vehicle. She looked down at her watch, it was six forty five. If Duo was going to show it would be in the next fifteen minutes, but that was a big if. Why would he even bother to show, it wasn't like they had any connection to each other, like he had any responsibility to come. And it wasn't like she cared either way. If he's not here by seven screw him, I'm gone, she thought, recharging the power pack to the speeder and getting a drink of water to pass the time. Fifteen minutes later she looked back at her watch. "I'm outta here," she muttered, jumping off her spot on the hood of the transport.

Just then, Duo ran in to the garage. He smirked. "I see you're ready to go," he smirked.

"Go where?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Judging by the time, I'd have to say breakfast. Come on." He grabbed her by her good wrist and started to drag her through the building. She protested, confused, when he passed the cafeteria without a second glance but he didn't stop. "That's where you eat every day, why should I take you there?" She had no answer and he continued. "We've got our own mess hall in the back, you're coming there with me."

"'We?'" she echoed.

Duo nodded. "Yea, we. Me, Heero, Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa. They think we're special."

Night faced straight ahead as she spoke. "You are. If it wasn't for you guys being here, the POW's, and me, would be jobless, penniless, defenseless, and at the mercy of all the convicts running around. We have a lot to be thankful of you for, and we owe you a lot. No denying it."

"Here we are." He pushed a door open and they looked around. It was less than a quarter the size of the main cafeteria and twice as nice. It was carpeted for one thing and there were actual chairs with cushions, not just plastic stools. At one of said chairs sat a man with black hair slicked into a small ponytail at the back of his head and coal black eyes, glumly eating his own breakfast.

The Chinese man leapt up when he saw them. "You!" he exclaimed as his eyes caught the girl.

"Wu-man, chill," Duo replied with an easy smile, "I just brought her here for breakfast.

Wufei made a face, grumbling as he sat down. "I've told you not to call me that."

Duo ignored him and brushed past, picking up a plate and tossing food onto it one-handed. It soon began to pile high. "Just grab a plate and as much as you want to eat," he told her, "Otherwise it just sits here until it gets thrown out. None of us eat as much as they think we do." By now, the food on his plate towered over his head.

"Well if you count Duo as eating for five, I guess he's right," Wufei mumbled.

"Shaddup . . . Wu-man."

"One more time, Maxwell, and I take the braid!"

Duo sat down at the table, holding his hair and very interested in his food. Wufei left grinning.

Night laughed silently and helped herself to a light breakfast. She sat facing him and for a few minutes they ate in silence. "Something's been bugging me," he finally said, "If you're the rookie, how'd you get the dead-shift?" She looked confused and he explained. "Early morning, near the city--when and where there's most likely to be an attack."

"Oh." She quickly scanned the room then brought a finger up to line with a framed painting behind his head. She muttered an incoherent stream of words and to his amazement, a think jet of ice shot from his fingertips, putting a neat hole through the picture. He twisted around and stared in shock, his jaw scraping the ground as he realized something.

"Babe, that was a twenty-first century original!"

Night shook her head confidently. "No it wasn't. Any original Hino painting would have been stolen long ago. Besides," she added, "I knew the artist, the original was on a canvas half that size. And Rei painted the phoenix red on gold, not the other way around. Red was her favorite color so she always put it in front."

Duo was a little shocked. "But you said you came from this year. Quatre said that was done in like 2002."

She laughed. "Duo, how old do I look?"

This was dangerous territory and he knew it. "I dunno, nineteen, twenty?"

"I stopped aging when I was twenty-one. That was two hundred years ago."

His jaw had to be peeled off the floor. "So- so you're some mysterious person from an alternate reality whose over two centuries old and can shoot ice from her hands?"

She blew across the end of her finger as if it were a still smoking gun, much like what he had seen in old movies. "I can do much more than that, but that little display was ll it took to get me the job. Otherwise, you're pretty much right."

"All that's Holy . . . woman, why are you telling me all this?"

She shrugged. "Don't see what it hurts. They all know about the ice and I'm not ashamed of my age." Night stood and walked to a counter, washing her plate as she spoke. "And while I may technically be close to two and a half centuries old, no one treats me as older than twenty. I don't expect you will either." It wasn't a spoken thought, it was a command.

Duo grinned. "So you want to do this again tomorrow?"

-*-

"Shit, my hair!" Duo's head pivoted towards the security dorms from which the scream came. "NIGHT!"

A figure came barreling down the hall towards him, stumbling with laughter as she ran as fast as possible. As she approached he could make out the shape of his good friend Night, her long blue hair tossing around as her head shook with barely contained mirth. A wicked smile had crossed her face and she lit up as she saw who else was in the hall. "Hide me!" she whispered, her eyes twinkling with mischief. He knew immediately that she had pulled another prank on someone but this time had gotten caught. Probably because she wanted her victim to know who did it, he mused.

He sighed. "What did you do this time?"

She grinned and ducked around him, using his larger bulk to her advantage. "Just hide me!"

"If it's turning me into the mature one, I have to know!"

A sigh, then a giggle. "Hide me and I'll tell you later."

Grinning broadly, he pushed her off down the hall, towards the pilots' quarters. "Get lost," he told her with emphasis.

She immediately realized what he meant and gave him a one fingered salute before disappearing.

And not a moment too soon. The man Duo had come to know as Philip turned the corner into sight just as she was gone. His face was contorted with mock rage and it looked as if his hands were itching to pay her back for the damage she had done. Which was quite a lot, Duo realized, looking at Night's partner in the SF. His normally dull red hair had been effectively dyed pink. Bright, neon, fluorescent pink. Duo went into a fit of coughing to disguise his laughter. She's really done it this time. Now I want to know why! He grinned, But now it's time to play dumb. Pull this off and she *really* owes me.

"Have you seen her?" were the first words out of Philip's mouth.

Duo faked a look of confusion. "Seen who?"

The other man rolled his eyes. "Night. Who else would have done this."

He grinned. "Coulda been me, but that's beside the point. Yea, I saw her. Told her to get lost."

Philip seemed genuinely surprised. "That's unexpected," he mused, "Which way'd she go?"

With one finger he pointed in the proper direction. "Pretty far that way." So she took the first right, far is a matter of perspective.

Groaning in frustration, Philip took off down the hall.

Whistling and grinning, Duo followed him and snaked into the first hall on his right, then tracing his way through the maze of corridors to his own room. Chuckling under his breath he opened the door and poked his head in, knowing she was hiding somewhere in here. He walked into the center of the room, his ears searching for any sign of her. Frowning slightly, he proceeded to search the area, looking extensively under the bed. Just as he was backing out he turned around, a broad grin on his face. "Gonna have to try harder than that."

Night stuck her tongue out at him. "Humph."

Mischief flashed in his eyes. "Don't stick that tongue out unless you plan to use it."

"Hentai," she shot at him.

He just grinned, eyes dancing with mirth. "That is part of the job description," he told her, "Along with practical joking. Why'd you do it?"

Her laughter was instantaneous and it took her quite a while before she could spit out her answer. Even then her response was forced between spouts of giggling. "Did it work?" she asked first, her laughter redoubling when he nodded. Finally regaining control of herself, she told him. "He teased me about my funny hair color," she gasped out, "And I figured I could return the favor. It was a simple matter of filling his shampoo with hair dye." A grin lit up her face, "I can just see him, his hair bright pink!" They both fell out laughing that time.

-*-

The sparring room was one of his favorites in the entire complex. They didn't know what it had originally been planned for, but the mats that covered the entire floor, most of the walls, and even the very edges of the ceiling had made it the perfect place for a training workout. Normally he practiced on his own, working on his hand-to-hand style with a dummy, but today he wanted the real test of sparring with a partner. But Heero had Duo off working in a mech simulation, Wufei was brooding again somewhere where he could have his gun, and Quatre was working with his violin and he knew he hated to be disturbed. So Trowa was forced to work on his own again, unless some else he knew showed up. A sigh escaping him, he approached the sparring room and heard the familiar sound of flesh striking a practice dummy.

Wondering who else was in there, he poked his head in and looked around. A girl of no more than twenty was working on her hand-to-hand skills and style. Not that she needs much practice, he thought, amazed, She's good. He watched as she danced in close to the dummy, keeping her arms up as if to protect herself from a possible retaliation. Then, almost faster than his eyes could follow, she jammed one elbow into the thing's face, then pivoted and pushed one foot into its stomach, gathering her momentum and pushing off and away. She twisted once more and finished it off with a swift kick to the side of its head. The mold of the dummy slowly filled out until it had regained its former shape as she turned to face him, strands of sweaty blue hair falling in her face. "Hello," she said politely enough, "Were you coming to practice or just spy on me?"

His face displayed no emotion. "To practice."

She nodded, grinning widely. "Then who's stopping you?"

As she turned and stretched her arms over her head, her shirt lifted just enough for him to see the wide scar at the base of her back. That was when he recognized her, surprised he hadn't made the connection sooner with her very unusual blue hair. His eyes flew wide open. "You," he said tightly, voice soft, "You're that girl Heero rescued. The one who wouldn't give us a name."

"And you're Trowa," she told him. "Tell me something I didn't already know."

That shocked him just a little; most of the security forces were more polite, bordering on respectful. Then there was this girl who treated him with the same amount of respect he was used to from Duo. Then it really clicked as to where else he had seen her: he had seen her with Maxwell around the complex, usually when one of them had broken yet another rule and was using the other to hide them. What was it he said her name was? he asked himself. "You're Night," he finally realized. This time he got a condescending nod as she returned to the dummy. "As long as there's no one else I can work with," Trowa said with a sigh, "And I need a sparring partner. . ."

She grinned. "I was just about to ask the same of you. It's not over until the floor lands a blow on someone's back."

And so the fight began.

Trowa circled and eyed her for a second, looking for a method to defeat this madness. Her style against a real person would be different than her style against a dummy and he had to compensate for that without loosing any advantage he had. She suddenly took a running start towards him and in the blink of an eye had flipped over his head, ready to knock his legs out from under him and end the fight before it even started. He had read the movement, however, and had pivoted before she landed, jumping over her outstretched foot and reaching to grab it before she drew it back. He caught her foot and as he pulled it towards him, she ducked and rolled with the motion. Yanking her foot back, she stood once again on his other side, then crouching to the ground as his leg swept over her head in a wide kick. She then had to jump, even from her stooped position, over his outstretched foot as he tried to land her flat on her back with a returned leg-sweep. He didn't wait for her to regain her balance as one fist lashed out, aimed for her stomach. With amazing speed she blocked it, and the next and the next, never faltering and never dropping that infuriating grin.

Even when she went on the offensive it was still there. With every blocked blow there was one returned until Trowa found himself backing up those same steps he had taken forward mere seconds before. Running out of options in the tight situation, he rolled to the side in a compact ball and was on his feet just as she realized where he had gone. He turned and ran part of the way up the side of the wall, pushing off and into a back-flip just as gravity would have had him answer its call. But she reached up and grabbed his knee in mid-air, yanking him to the floor. He twisted as he fell and landed on his knees, but not his back, and thus the fight went on.

He pushed himself to his feet and did a quick back handspring to avoid the foot headed in his direction. The moment he was up he threw in a few blows of his own, forcing her to take a step backwards. Still swinging his arms, he used her momentary distraction to hook one foot at the back of her knees, dropping her face first to the floor. But she rolled with the movement and head-butted directly in the stomach, the air leaving him with a gasp. Without giving him time to recover she did a quick flip-flop backwards, one foot catching him directly under the chin.

And landing him flat on his back.

Trowa groaned and lifted himself onto his elbows. Night offered a hand to help him up and he took it gratefully, letting her assist in hauling him back to his feet. They each took a few moments to dust themselves off and wipe the sweat out of their faces. For at least a minute the only sound in the room was that of two bodies panting for air. "You're good," he admitted at last, the first to speak, "Better than me."

She smiled, grateful for the compliment. "You're not bad yourself. If I hadn't caught you off-guard, this would have gone on a lot longer."

"I've been training all my remembered life, losing is something I've grown unaccustomed to."

Laughing softly, she clapped him on the back. "Believe me, I've trained longer than you. "

He stared at her in shock, she couldn't be any older than he. "How? You look under twenty?"

Another infuriating grin. "Then let that be the lesson you learned here," she told him, "Looks are very deceiving. Especially when it comes to me." And with that bit of advice, she wiped the last bit of sweat from her forehead and slung a towel over her shoulders. As she walked out of the room she grabbed a sports bag and the same sword she had had every time he saw her. With a quick wave, she was gone.

Trowa still stood there, mouth hung wide open in shock. Duo, he thought to himself, If you ever catch her, you are in for one wild ride.

-*-

"Let me get this straight. She's two hundred forty-four but acts twenty-one. Her original name was most likely Aino Minako but now she's changed it to Eyes of Night. She comes from another reality, twenty fourth century, and lived in Tokyo but it was a thriving kingdom not a haunted wasteland. She and eleven friends were sworn to protect the three royals of said kingdom. She has some kind of power over water and ice and she avoids that damned crater like the plague after a nasty run-in with the pig-tailed ghost. She loves mystery books, action/adventure holos, and twenty first century alternative music. Her favorite food is *sandwiches* (what the hell are those)? She knew the artist Rei Hino and loves to play practical jokes? You've been seeing her for three months and that's all you've gotten out of her?"

"Not even a kiss."

-*-

" . . . attack . . . through the gates . . . reinforcements . . . "

The connection was shaky and filled with static but understandable none the less. After months of attempts an attack had finally gotten through. It wasn't early in the morning. It wasn't at the edge of the grounds nearest the city. It came through the very front gate at six in the afternoon.

As soon as the message came through alarms went off all around the complex and people were running everywhere, grabbing weapons and rushing out the door. Duo followed directly in their footsteps as soon as he woke up, laying hands on the first gun he could get to. A speeder was about to head out and he jumped on the back of it, hitching a ride to the front line. He felt like a soldier off to battle in one of those old war movies he liked so much, where an entire caravan of people is carted into combat each with their guns at the ready and faces hard set for trouble. For once his features lost their joking tone and he sank farther into his seat, gripping his laser rifle close to his chest.

The fight was well under way by the time they arrived. Unsurprisingly Heero was in the midst of the fray, that same trusty handgun coming to use time and time again. Reflexes hardened by years of experience came into play over and over, dodging death each time. Wufei was not far behind, eyes narrowed in concentration and laser at the ready each second. Twenty feet beside them were Quatre and Trowa fighting back to back, a virtually unassailable duo of death.

Carnage littered the ground, more falling all the time. In some places the blood fairly flowed across the dirt. The convicts were surprisingly well armed for so primitive a society that lived outside the fortress walls. They used anything they could have reached as a weapon, from pick-axes to garden hoes to fully automatic weapons centuries old but they fought on as if they carried the newest of equipment. Number wise the two sides were evenly matched but the criminals had had the element of surprise and used that quite well to their advantage. 

There was a scream and he looked over just in time to see two fall; Philip and a girl he did not recognize. A second yell followed, piercing him straight to the bone and echoing, full of blood-curdling pain in his memory. A sword flashed through the air and a blue-haired hell-on wheels-crossed his vision, the blade swinging so fast it seemed to ricochet anything in its way. Ice blazed from her free hand, cutting through people like a laser through the remaining good eye. She landed atop her fallen friends, fighting with a ferocity he had never seen before, and in those few moments came to fear. "You holding up?" he asked, badgering his way to stand beside her.

She nodded, tight-lipped, sparing no breath for words. Night had gone from his joking partner-in-crime to a battle-hardened soldier he hoped never to see again. He didn't keep track of how long the battle went on, but he never left her side, fearing she would pull another foolhardy stunt and get herself killed in grief over the friends she had lost. Slowly but surely the combined forces, pilots and POW's, drove back the criminals that had once again tried to breech their gates. As soon as they were secure and extra sentries posted they all began to slowly pile out, loading up in speeders that left at half the speed they had come. All but Night.

Duo stood a ways behind her, not wanting to disturb her as she said goodbye. In the pit of his stomach he knew that she had had a loss even more severe than this and been denied that simple privilege so he gave her the time and space he knew she needed. She knelt in the carnage beside Philip's body, ignoring the blood that washed through her jeans. Her head was bowed and she crossed herself several times, muttering under her breath. When she was silent Duo stepped forward and put one hand on her shoulder. "You gonna be ok?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

She looked up. "What? Yea, of course. Been through worse."

He nodded skeptically. "Whatever you say. I'm going on back to get a drink, need a ride?"

"A strong drink would be good."

-*-

Turned out the only place with liquor in the complex was his room, and the only supply was what he had brought. Night had been in there before on a few occasions and immediately crossed the room, sitting on one corner of the bed with her chin in her hands. Duo poured two glasses and handed one to her which she gratefully accepted. She held it for a few seconds, sloshing the liquid around and staring at it intently as if it would answer all of life's questions. "That's how they died, you know," she finally said, speaking to the glass.

"Who died how?"

She licked her lips and took a drink, then wiped her mouth on the back of her arm. "My friends, who else? In battle with a demon." She took another sip, then gestured towards the glass. "Don't let me have too much, I'm notorious back home for not being able to hold my liquor. . . Top it off again." Night sighed and leaned back, all her weight on one hand. "One fucking demon took 'em all down. All fourteen. All but me. Aren't I the lucky one?" She grinned, her laugh only a contemptuous snort.

He just stared at her, drink forgotten. "It *was* you," he breathed in shock.

"What?" She took a long gulp, draining half the glass, but paled slightly.

He took a deep breath and explained. "Literally less than half an hour before I met you I had the strangest and most realistic of dreams. People were dead all around, dressed alike, more then ten of them. One survivor." He watched as Night paled even further. "She took this sword, long beautiful blade, and sliced off the demon killer's head. She never let go of the pig-sticker, always kept a tight grip on it. Her friends were dead and she was alive, it was horrible. All I could do was watch-"

"-stop!"

It was obvious in her face that Night was reliving the nightmare he described. Within seconds she had gone from sarcastic to almost . . . cowering? She ducked her head into her arms, muffling her words against skin. "It was my fault! They died because I couldn't save them, it was my fucking fault! Rei, Serenity, Makoto, Setsuna, Zoisite, and now Philip and Cecilia. I was too slow and now they're dead!"

"And Trowa."

". . . what . . . ?"

Duo's face contorted in pain. "Deep coma from a blow to the head. Miracle if he wakes up."

She looked up at him. "Oh god Duo, I didn't know." Tears were barely restrained in her eyes and he realized he had never seen her cry before. He sat beside her and she hugged him tight, letting him cry on her shoulder as she dammed back her own sobs. "You can't save them all, Duo," she whispered in his ear, "Believe me, I've tried."

He shook his head, his face buried in her shoulder. "But Trowa! And all I could do was stand there."

They both had tears streaming down their faces, neither trying to hide them any longer. Duo's arms were as secure around Night as hers were around him. "I was supposed to save and protect the princess," she choked out, "She died so I could live. I killed her by surviving." 

There was silence for a few moments, both crying silently to each other as no more words were spoken. Duo pulled his head back slightly, their faces just inches apart and his eyes boring into her own, questioning and asking for permission. She nodded slowly and shut her eyes as his hands cupped her chin, his lips claiming hers in a searing kiss. It wasn't love. It wasn't lust. It was merely two grieving people finding mutual comfort in one another.

-*-

Morning. She hated morning. Always had. The whole idea of having to leave a nice warm bed right after waking up had never appealed to her. Night cracked one eye open--and immediately realized why this bed in particular was so abnormally warm. This isn't my bed. This isn't my pillow. Hell this isn't my room. . . but those are most definitely *my* clothes on the floor. Oh shit . . . shit . . . shitshitshit. She mentally cursed herself. There were two unwritten rules in the SF. Number one: don't sleep with the pilots. Number two: don't sleep with the pilots.

She opened the other eyes and realized how impossible it was going to be to get out of bed without him awakening. Not only were Duo's arms wrapped tight around her but she had to be lying halfway sprawled out across his chest. Now that is a nice chest . . . No, no, no. First order of business is getting out of bed. Quietly. Waking him up would be very detrimental to the plan of sneaking out. Carefully she slid from his arms and rolled sideways to the floor, making as little noise as possible. She quickly scooped up her clothes and changed in the bathroom. Just as she was leaving Duo rolled over onto his side, one hand searching the bed for her in his sleep. With a wistful smile, she disappeared through the door.

-*-

That, he decided with a hazy smile, That was fun. Duo woke slowly, memories drifting back and grinning like a mad-man. "Hey," he said huskily, eyes opening slowly, "Night . . . " His voice trailed off as he noticed her absence from the bed, and that her clothes had vanished from the floor. On her pillow was a note, one word and monosyllabic: 'Sorry.' "What the fuck?" he hissed, balling the paper in his hand then leaping up and pulling on his pants, "Where'd she go?" Once dressed he rushed from the room to the one place he knew to look for her--the garage.

There was only one attendant in sight when he got there. "Hey, you," Duo called.

"Me?"

He sighed. "No, the grizzly bear behind you. Of course you. Did a girl come through here, blue hair?"

The kid nodded, eager to please. "Yes sir, she took a speeder out towards the city about fifteen minutes ago, in a real hurry. Looked pretty upset and I almost didn't let her through but she had the proper authorization." He seemed very proud of himself and hopeful that he had done his job like he was supposed to.

Duo's face fell. "'Upset?' Oh shit. Did she say where she was going?"

"No."

"Dammit." He frowned, frustrated, then hopped onto a nearby mini-bike, swinging one leg over the seat to rest on the pedal on the other side. Then realization struck and he knew where to find her. Swearing even more vehemently he slammed on the gas, leaving the poor kid gaping behind him. He sped past everything, headed at top speed for the one place he knew she hated the most--the crater.

His instincts had served him correctly. She stood near the center, staring up at something with tears in the back of her eyes. Her sword, the only she so fondly called Zoi-chan, lay on the ground in front of her, no longer proud and shining but dulled red and lusterless. Night looked to be arguing fervently with someone but he couldn't see who nor tell what she was saying. What's she doing? Talking to a ghost? he thought sarcastically. For less than a split second his vision changed and he was surrounded by people, but after that instant all was back to normal. All Residing Above, he realized, She *is* talking to a ghost!

This time the people didn't disappear. 

They were everywhere, each looking as dead as the pig-tailed one had those many months ago. Standing in the sky was a goddess with long green hair and eyes of a startling red, holding in two hands the pieces of a once majestic staff and watching the scene intently. A man with black hair and blue eyes held to him what seemed to be two versions of the same girl, each with the same strange pig-tails but one older and the other with pink hair instead of silver. A small girl no more that fifteen huddled at the foot of the remains of a once large and glorious castle, black hair in disarray and black eyes wide with fright. Beside her stood two women holding tightly to each other, one with shortly cropped blonde hair and the other with long wavy locks of aquamarine. Three men, generals by the looks of them, stood off to the side; one blonde, one white-haired, one brunette, and each wearing a suit of a different color. The man with white hair had his arms around a girl with long gold locks down her back that was held back in a red bow. Barring Duo's path were two more girls of the same age. One had the height of an Amazon, with green eyes lit with battle fire and sugar pink hair pulled into a high ponytail. The other was a fiery girl with hard, dark eyes and raven hair cut to her chin. In front of Night stood a man easily a head taller than her, with a short blonde ponytail and a suit of light blue. Unlike the other four men, he carried no sword. He was glaring at the small girl in front of him, tight-lipped and silent as a whisper of death; cold and unforgiving.

"I swear I tried!" Night said to him, pleading. Duo had never known her to plead with anyone. He tried to force himself to her but the two girls held him back, fixing him in place with stony glares. All he could do was sit and watch, and the feeling was much too familiar to be liked. "Please understand, I tried! I know it doesn't mean anything to you now, but please . . . you have to forgive me for failing you." Her eyes were begging but the cold man seemed not to care. Instead he turned his accusing glare to Duo, raising one arm to point at him.

He knows, Duo thought, suddenly worried.

Night realized it too and paled considerable. Her mouth flopped like a dead fish. "I- I-"

This time when he approached the center of the crater, the two 'guards' let him through. He put one arm around her shoulders and leaned over to whisper softly in her ear. "The first rule of lovers' etiquette," he said quietly, a devilish grin on his face, "You don't run out the next morning."

"Maxwell." She said his name slowly, obviously unhappy. "Meet Zoisite. My former lover and ex-fiancé."

He got it. They had been involved, engaged, until Zoisite died along with the rest of her friends. That was his sword she always carried that now lay on the ground, named after him. That was his ring she always wore on the third finger of her right hand--a widow's ring. And now Duo had slept with his girl. "I'll be going now," he said jokingly, turning around only to be blocked by the rest of the crowd. "Or not." He looked over at Night. "Who *are* these people?"

Her smile was forced. "The best of friends I could have ever wished for."

"Don't butter us up, Mercury," snapped the beauty in red, one of them finally speaking.

"I'm not," she replied evenly, "Mercury that is. She died with you. But I'm not buttering you up either."

Duo elbowed her. "They look like they want you dead as well."

She shrugged. "I survived by a freak accident in the first place, it wouldn't make a difference." Her ease in the dismissal of this statement as trivial frightened him for her safety. She drew a deep breath and slowly released it in a sigh, not able to meet his gaze--or anyone else's for that matter. "Duo," she said softly, "You really shouldn't be here. This is only between me and them, I don't want you in the middle."

"Tough." He stood fast. "If they want you dead, I ain't moving."

"You just left us there," the raven-haired girl hissed, taking them back to the original subject.

"Mars- I-"

"You pulled yourself through, you can pull yourself back."

"But I--I what?"

The older girl in pigtails stepped forward. "You did, Mercury." Her voice was soft and serene, Duo found himself at ease despite the tense situation. "We each have that power but we never used it. What was the point, we never traveled through different realities. But you acted on instinct and used it. Now you're gone from us and all we can do is roam and haunt, without ever leaving this crater.

"Why can't you leave?"

She smiled, something rather awkward for a person covered in blood. "Maybe you could have figured it out if you were still with us, Mercury. You're the genius." She walked towards the grass at the end of the jagged rock but as she reached the edge of the crater she began to move in place, then started to slowly disappear. Duo looked around at the rest of the ghosts. Each was frowning, watching themselves become more and more transparent. All fourteen of them turned their lifeless eyes on the sole survivor, some sorrowful and some hateful.

"You left us."

And then they were gone.

-*-

"What were you thinking?" he hissed, following her through the halls. "They could have killed you, wouldn't have cared either!" She ignored him, keeping up a pace he had trouble catching up to as she walked through the compound, head held high. He had to choice but to tag along if he wanted to talk to her, a hope which resulted as fruitless.

She finally stopped and turned around. "Why are you following me to my room?"

"I don't know, why am I?"

Night resumed walking. "Last night . . . " She sighed and his face fell, knowing and dreading what she was going to say. "I'm not sure what it was. I won't call it a mistake," she grinned and winked at him and his spirit soared, "Too much fun to be total mistake." He smiled, relieved. Perhaps all was not lost. Then she continued. "But it wasn't right either." She paused in mid-stride, right in front of her door. "Before you ask, yes Zoisite and I were . . . involved. Very involved. If he hadn't died, I would now be two months married. Seeing him like that, hearing what he said--what they all said--I have to think things out."

"But you didn't do anything but *live*!"

She nodded. "Live and leave. I disappeared and now they can't find peace-"

His eyes went wide as her voice slowed and he grabbed her arms as if to prevent her from fleeing. "Don't try that again."

Night gave him a puzzled look until it clicked with her what he meant. Her smile was weak, forced even, but it was there. "Oh no, I couldn't. I left Zoisite with his sword. But don't you understand, Duo? 'You pulled yourself through, you can pull yourself back.' That's what Mars said, and she was right. Their bodies are just lying out there, I have to go back. Go back and bury them."

"I'm going with you," he insisted.

The look she gave him was one of condescending humor. "How? I'm the one who can cross parallels."

He shrugged. "You create the portal, I walk through. How hard can it be?"

She eyed him carefully, about to ask if he had skipped that day's visit to his shrink when she realized how deadly serious he was. "You're acting like a love-sick puppy, Duo, you do see that." Before he could say anything to defend himself, she spoke again. "I don't know if that will work or not, the portal might only let me through, you could even get stuck on the other side. If you really want to risk your life and sanity for something that only concerns me, I'm not going to stop you."

"I lost my sanity a long time ago, babe."

Night continued as if she hadn't heard him, her voice sharp and commanding. "There is a catch to this though. No emotional attachments about what happened last night, got it? I'm more worried about you than I am about me. You're a huge player in a war, Duo. They'll be willing to use any means they can to bring you down, including using people you care about against you. I refuse to be one of those people. So when they find your gundams you're flying out of here without a second glance. Agree to that or I'm not taking you with me."

He stared at her in shock. "How did you know about the gundams?"

She grinned and for a moment the playful Night was back. "You talk in your sleep."

His jaw dropped . . . and he couldn't help but laugh.

*-*

They didn't go for another three days. Night locked herself in her room and didn't see anyone, only leaving when it was her shift on the perimeter. Duo went back to life as normal as possible, though with Trowa still in his coma that was hard to do. Quatre constantly moped around, his sea-green eyes always downcast and the slope in his shoulders increasing visibly each day. No longer did he play classical music on his violin, now it was something akin to a funeral march that echoed from his room. But Duo still tried to crack the occasional joke, only to be beaten down by Heero or Wufei each time. When Night appeared to tell him she had figured everything out and it was time to go, he doubted he had ever been as happy to see her. He gladly pulled up a speeder and was off to the crater without any questions as soon as she jumped in, a bag slung over her shoulder.

As they stepped from the vehicle and walked into the rock he got the distinct feeling that they were being watched, but said nothing. Night set her bag down in the center of the crater and was silent for a few moments, clear eyes staring intently at a spot in front of her. As he watched the air seemed to split at the very molecules, a blinding blue light radiating from the emptiness that it created. Almost shaking with effort she tossed her bag through the portal and smiled as she heard it land with a 'thud', never taking her eyes off the portal. "You--go," she told him through clenched teeth, and he did as he was told, not wanting her to change her mind and not let him through.

What he saw was so much like all the battlefields he had visited, and yet so different because he felt as if he knew the people slumped like baggage all across the ground. At his feet were three bodies, those of a man and a girl no older than twelve covering that of a young woman with odangas in her hair. Not far from them lay two more people, a man and a woman, his body over hers. Both were dressed in orange, him in a suit and her in a fuku. Strewn over a rock was a tall girl with short blonde hair, next to her on the ground, their hands clasped, was another girl of incredible beauty and turquoise hair. A man in a red suit had his arms wound tightly, even in death, around the figure of a raven-haired goddess, their lips locked for eternity. A glaive broken over her body, a tiny girl lay face down on the ground, her dark locks fanned out around her head. Slumped over a woman with sugar pink hair were two men, one dressed in a suit of dark green, the other in ice blue.

Night didn't speak, simply walked past him to the body of the pre-teen. With a tender hand she reached down and took a key from the young girl's necklace. She stood and held it in the air, and to Duo's amazement, another portal opened. She stepped through on her own and he felt it best to remain behind. It didn't close until she reappeared, carrying with her the body of a tall, regal woman dressed in dark shades of purple and green. Night laid the corpse on the ground and disappeared again for a few seconds, returning this time with two halves of a jade green rod, which she put beside the woman's body. Then, without a single word, she closed the portal and replaced the key. She took from her bag two shovels and handed one to Duo, holding up eight fingers to indicate eight graves. It took a few seconds for him to understand why they wouldn't dig fourteen, but then he got it and went to work.

Working together it didn't take them long to finish. Night went past and enlarged five of them, and then they were done. Glancing down at her bag, she reached in and pulled out the first object she grabbed. It was a book of twenty-first century poetry. Setting it down beside the smallest of the graves, she walked over to the carnage behind her and lifted the body of the tiny, dark-haired girl. Duo followed behind, picking up the pieces of the glaive. Night set the body into the earth with a gentle care he had never seen in a person before, then laid the book on top of it. "That," she told him, finally speaking as she scraped the dirt over the girl, "was Sailor Saturn. Just Hotaru to most. She was eternally sixteen, and was eternally the guardian of death." She sighed, tears straining to fall, "Everything the guardian of death wasn't supposed to be, it seemed. She wasn't dark, she loved poetry, but so sickly and frail, and death had followed her everywhere." Night looked up at him, a single tear slipping form the corner of her eye, "Like you she was orphaned when she was only a little kid. Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna were her guardians for almost her entire life."

When she next reached into her bag she pulled out a violin and a racing helmet. Laying them beside one of the larger graves, she gestured for Duo to follow her as she walked back out to the bodies. She lifted that of the tall blonde girl as he held that of the beauty with aquamarine hair, careful never to break the grasp of the lifeless hands. Carefully they set them together in the grave, turning them to face each other and then placing the items with them. "Haruka and Michiru. Uranus and Neptune. Earth and Water. You wondered how I accepted homosexuality so easily--I lived with them for two hundred years. Their PDA's because just as common and understood as those between any other couple who lived in the palace." She bit her lip. "Neptune was the one who loved to read just as much as I did. She played the violin all her life and was a world famous composer, but it never went to her head. She was the mediator for us, no one stayed mad at anyone else for long when she was there to settle it. Uranus was the rebel of the group it seemed at first. Then we got used to the motorcycle roaring away at all times of the night. She was probably the strongest of us all, the most stubborn, and it was because of her unwillingness to give up that we won so many times. But they were each other's weakness." Her voice broke and she stood once again, this time bringing back the body of the green-haired woman. Duo quickly got the staff she had carried with her.

"Sailor Pluto," she told him, "Setsuna was the most reclusive of us all, she was forced to stand guard over the Gates of Time, never to leave them, and make sure that no one interfered with the timestream. Still, whenever she came to Earth, or the Moon, or wherever we were, she was like a mother to all of us." Tears were running freely down her face and she would not meet his eyes as she placed a book of the planets beside the body. "She was my best friend and they killed her while she was watching us die."

One by one Duo learned about each of the scouts. Buried beside Setsuna was the couple in orange. "I didn't know Malachite too well," Night confessed, laying a heart-shaped locket beside the body of the girl, "But Aino Minako was a close friend. She was Sailor Venus, the original scout and around before the rest of us. She loved to laugh, to flirt, to *live*. She always kept us in high spirits, sometimes so childish and immature that we just had to laugh. I always wanted to be like her, able to set things aside and live in the moment without being worried about what would happen next. That's why I used her name when I came, and I almost pulled it off for a while. But I could never be Mina-" She choked up again and was forced to move on to the next person.

It took the both of them to move the man and woman in red, careful not to move them in death from how they had been in life. "Jadeite," she told him, "He was perfect with Rei, the only one of the four generals able to calm her when she flew into one of her rages. And Rei . . ." she bit her lip, tears flowing freely as she placed a single phoenix feather in the grave, "That was Rei Hino, the famous painter in your time. In ours it was just her hobby, but she was so good at it. Loved painting almost as much as she loved Jadeite, though none of us would ever get her to admit that. She was Sailor Mars, and her power matched her temper. But she cared so deeply for all of us, her scream when-"

"Nephrite spent every waking hour with his love on Jupiter, I never saw him much nor had the chance to meet him. Everyone I spoke to, however, told me that he was quite the gentleman though he loved a good joke. Then there was Sailor Jupiter." She laid a black karate belt in the grave between the man and woman in green. "Kino Makoto. She was always a fighter, with a will and stubbornness to rival Uranus. But countering her warrior side was her love of the kitchen. That was why we loved to meet at her apartment before the Silver Millennium, she never failed to provide refreshments. We never were close friends, but to see someone die after knowing them for two hundred years . . . It was like watching a sister being murdered . . . and being unable to prevent it." Duo put a hand on her shoulder and massaged the skin comfortingly as Night fought to keep her composure.

They were down to two graves. As Night stood to go for another body, she realized that she and Duo were not alone--there were four ghosts left. Mamoru, Chibi-Usa, Serenity, and Zoisite: the four that had yet to be put to rest. The man in blue watched her carefully as she lifted his body and carried it to the remaining small grave. Trembling with pent-up grief, she lowered the corpse of her fiancé into the earth and placed on top of it a single rose, its petals a silvery ice blue. The man's sword had been replaced by his side. "I've told you about Zoisite," she whispered, facing the crowd before her. "He was the sweetest, most caring man I had ever met. I always felt that he was my other half. When he asked me to marry him I felt I'd never been happier--and when he died I thought a piece of my soul was gone." Tears fell freely now, she didn't even try to stop them. Zoisite stepped forward, his eyes no longer hard but full of love and admiration. He gently took her face in one hand and kissed her sweetly for the final time just before she spoke the words that would end the burial and let him rest. "I loved you, Zoisite." And he was gone.

"'Loved?'" Serenity echoed quietly, her ditzy smile in place but intelligence sparking behind her eyes.

Night didn't answer, simply bowed her head as she lifted the three remaining bodies with the same unnatural strength Duo had seen her display all afternoon. Setting them in the earth she used her bare hand to wipe the crusted blood from the princess' face with a gentle care he had never seen. After wiping her arm clean she caught a hiccuping breath in her throat and reached one last time into the bag she had brought with her, bringing out three last items. A black opera mask, a crystal the same shape and style as Serenity's brooch, and a thin, simple tiara of silver were all placed in the grave, tears falling on top of them. She opened her mouth to speak but was immediately cut off.

Sailor Moon smiled softly, wistfully, as she spoke. "Let me say something, Mercury," she told her in a voice full of forgiving kindness, "Before you start off on your tirade of how sorry you are. You have nothing to be sorry for. Mars was harsh, but when is she not. Leaving us here was the only way you could have survived, and that was what we all wanted for you. Death and dying are not pleasant things, none of us would have wished it on anyone and especially not one of our dearest friends." She sighed and her deadened eyes became even more lifeless, now dull, depthless blue. "You've changed, Merc, you really have."

"I lost fourteen loved ones in the space of fifteen minutes. Try and tell me *you* wouldn't change."

There was a despondent sigh from the deceased. "But you're back now, and that's really all that matters to us. I don't," she looked at her husband and daughter who smiled at her, "We don't need words to bury us, we're already in the ground. It's just that . . ." Her face fell as tears formed in her eyes. "Come here, friend, give me one last hug before we have to say good-bye." The two girls embraced for the final time and then with a whispered farewell, the three remaining ghosts were gone.

Night sighed deeply and wiped the tear-tracks from beneath her eye. "Let's go," she said, and for the third and last time opened her portal. Duo obediently stepped through without a word, back into his home reality. But instead of landing on cracked stone, his feet touched grass. Startled he looked around to discover that the crater was completely gone, seamlessly replaced with the same field that covered the rest of the land. He heard a dull thud behind him and turned to see that Night had reappeared and shut the portal then promptly fallen to her knees in shock. "I did it," she whispered, her face slack, "I actually did it." A feeble grin crossed her lips, pulling at her mouth until the cracked into a full blown smile that fed directly into laughter. She collapsed onto her side, rolling back and forth with uncontrollable chuckles until her stomach ached and she sprawled out flat on her back, basking in the sun. Duo sat beside her, his broad grin beaming. He looked at her, her lithe body stretched out in the grass, completely carefree and vulnerable, and was too drawn by temptation to resist.

He tickled her.

Night fought valiantly to keep her giggles back and scoot away from his lightening-quick hands, but all was in vain. Her laughter broke loose once more as she howled in delight and retaliated. He redoubled his attack, his longer arms giving him the advantage but she was so quick it didn't matter. Within a number of seconds she had him pinned down and at her mercy as her fingers dove across his ribs, effectively reducing him to helpless laughter. After only a couple of minutes they had both dissolved into giggles and lay breathless, sprawled out on the grass as their chests heaved trying to catch air. "We should have thought of that a long time ago," Duo told her with a smile.

She returned his grin. "Tickle therapy."

"Copyright Duo and Night."

"Nuh uh, Copyright Night and Duo."

"Duo and Night."

"Night and Duo."

"Duo and Night."

"Why do you get to go first?"

"I'm first alphabetically."

"You know a word that big? I'm impressed."

"Hell, I'm surprised *you* know what it means."

"Shut up!"

"Hehehe."

"You are such an idiot."

"Just like you."

"Arg! I seriously hate you."

There was silence for a few moments, then Duo drew a deep breath and sighed. "Don't say that, ok?"

She rolled over on her side to look him in the eye. "You know I didn't mean it."

He nodded. "Still, just . . . don't." Silence reigned for several minutes that stretched out like hours. When she finally turned back to look at him again, he had rolled over onto his side and curled into a little ball, hugging his knees to his chest. His long braid that she so loved to twirl around her fingers was flat in the grass, wisps of brown intertwining with stalks of green. He sighed, something she saw more than heard as she watched his shoulders pull back and then contract into their former position.

Night drew a deep breath and let it out noisily. "Remember what I said, Du."

He slowly turned to face her, his casual smile completely gone. The same sparking violet eyes she had drowned in three nights before now glittered differently with frustration akin to rage. "I know what you said," he told her, his voice growing steadily colder until even the ice she held power over could bring it warmth. "And it was pretty presumptuous of you. 'No emotional attachments,' that's what you said." They were both sitting now, azure gaze meeting azure gaze, and both reading different expressions. "Why might you think that there would be any emotional attachment in the first place?"

She looked calm enough but fury raged deep in still waters." Try thinking with the head above the shoulders, Maxwell."

He continued as if he hadn't heard her, but they both knew very well that he had. The way he spoke proved it even more than his words. "Just because you're beautiful doesn't mean you have to mean more than a one night stand. Fun while it lasted. A good fuck."

The slap that rang out was clear as a bell, and completely unexpected. Her hands had been so still at her sides that neither of them saw it coming. "What did you call me?" she asked between clenched teeth, practically shaking with rage.

He had passed the point of no return and knew it. "A good fuck," Duo told her again, "What's the matter, not used to hearing it to your face?"

A red hand print now decorated his other cheek. "Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That." Her words were more hissed than spoken.

"And why not?"

Shakily Night regained control of her trembling breathing. "Trust me on that one. And at least we all know I'm good at it."

Duo was silent for just a moment as it filtered past his red vision what she had just insinuated. "That was low, Night," he told her. "You don't even want to go there. Then again, if it's low, you've done it." She raised her hand to smack him again but he caught her wrist in mid air and refused to release it. "And trust you? What proof is there that I should? Your old friends certainly did, and look where it got them." The foot to his groin came before he could register it and by the time the pain was past enough for him to see clearly, she was gone.

-*-

Quatre was playing on his violin when the storm blew through. He saw her as she rushed past his door at a fast walk, practically shaking with rage. Curiosity winning out over sanity he stood and followed, taking a short-cut her knew to cut her off. He stood at the end of the hall, arms by his sides and his head tilted slightly with a look of pure innocence on his face when she came towards him. What he faced head-on, however, was much different than what he saw blowing past his door. She was the picture of rage and heart-break. "What did Duo say?" he asked harmlessly.

Night glared. "Fuck off." It was a simply phrase, simply thrown, but she regretted it as soon as it escaped her.

He smiled weakly. "I'm afraid that is something I cannot do. But if there is something you wish me to tell him, I am willing to play the messenger boy just this one." He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes, the ones he knew no one could resist, especially knowing what had happened at the battle three days prior. He had completely brushed off the rude remark she had given him, knowing in his heart that she only lashed out at him because he was there.

"Tell Duo that he'd better have a dammed good explanation or he's lost a friend for life."

-*-

Night,

I'm not going to apologize for what I said two days ago; you bruised my manhood, I won't let you bruise my ego. But I know you didn't expect me to apologize either, and I know you wouldn't return the favor even if I did so I'm not going to waste my breath (so to speak). We both said things we meant but wish we hadn't, and we both know we can't take it all back.

What I called you was completely unnecessary and out of line, but what I said wasn't. The impromptu speech you had given me three days even before that was arrogant and uncalled for. You had as much right to assume that I wouldn't try to forget it had ever happened as I had right to call you what I did. So in a weird, twisted sense, we're even.

I've sat here at my computer for a long time now, typing and re-typing this same letter. I got your message from Quatre and realized I had no explanation. But I also realized something else. I've lost enough friends in my life, I don't want to lose you. If we have to we can start all over, as if we had never met, but your friendship is something I don't think I could stand to forfeit. So for the past two days even I've moped around until I came to this one, final conclusion. I relinquish my pride and ask you this, will you take me back as a friend, if nothing more?

-Duo

-*-

A shadow crept to the med-bay, stealthy as the darkness from which it was born. She knew this path as well as she knew any other and still she tread cautiously, avoiding the light and embracing the black. No sound came from her footsteps, from her cloak, from her long hair that was now carefully wound in a tight bun from which no solitary strand escaped. Door after door came silently unlocked and open beneath her practiced hand until she reached her destination. There on one of the hospital beds lay a young man she knew, and knew needed to recover. He was still, deathly still, and machines surrounded his body, feeding him his air, his food, his very life. She knew what she had to do.

Night shrugged her cloak from her shoulders and let it fall noiselessly to the ground. Underneath she wore her sailor fuku, something she had not touched in a long time. Trowa's hair had been shaved making it that much easier for her to find the head wound that had kept him at the brink of death for nearly a week. It was at the very base of his skull and although the tissue was healing slowly, something had impacted his brain so harshly that it still kept him in eternal slumber. She smiled softly, suddenly very relieved that Hotaru had decided last minute to distribute her healing gift among all her teammates. Taking a deep breath she whispered two simple words, laying her fingers at either side of his wound and putting all her energy into them.

"Ice Healing."

Swirls of blue encased them both and the entire room seemed to rotate on its axis. She closed her eyes and let the chilling wind do as it would, feeling her hair blow loose and suddenly wishing she hadn't left her cloak on the floor. Power drained from her body into his, blue energy crackling where her fingertips met his skin. She drew another deep breath and pushed the last of her energy reserves into him, praying with all her soul that she wasn't too late. The winds died down and she opened her eyes.

So did Trowa. For the first time she saw both of his green eyes and their familiarity struck too close to home. He opened his mouth to speak, but she covered it with her hand, effectively silencing him. "Shush," she told him in a whisper, a chiding tone in her voice, "You were nearly dead for five days, don't even think about trying to talk yet." He nodded obediently and she removed her hand. "But could you do me a favor?" He nodded again and she smiled. "Tell Duo that if he holds true to his letter, to meet me in the pilots' dorms." Puzzled, he still nodded once again. "Thank you. Now sleep, my friend, tomorrow will be an exciting day." Her words were almost hypnotic and he found himself drifting towards a friendly blackness.

-*-

"Duo!"

He squinted against the light in his room as the door was thrown open and covered his eyes with his blanket. "What?"

"Duo, wake up! You have to see this, it's a miracle! Trowa's awake!"

That got his attention. He sat up, throwing the covers aside. "What?"

Quatre stood in his door way, his sea-green eyes brought back to life. "Isn't it amazing! Heero just told me, said he'd been down to check on him and he was sitting up and talking to the doctors. His wound is gone completely, not even a scar. It's a medical miracle!" He was jumping up and down in his excitement, smiling so broadly Duo was afraid his face would crack. "I've got to tell Wufei," he said eagerly and disappeared down the hallway.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Duo swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood. Then, with amazing speed for one who had just woken up, he was dressed and out the door, Wufei and Quatre not far behind him. The three of them raced each other to the med-bay, Quatre beating them both by a mile. Not one of them noticed the shadow that snuck past them towards their rooms, a wicked smile on her face.

It really was quite the joyous reunion when they all arrived in the med-bay to see Trowa sitting up and smiling at them. The blonde man lit up and threw his arms around his neck, hugging him with all he was worth. Trowa embraced him, grateful to see him again and smiling at his teammates over his shoulder. Duo hugged him next, thankful to have his friend back and confused when he felt a piece of paper pressed in to his hand. He shrugged it off and stepped back as his other teammates greeted their almost lost companion. Shrinking back into a corner, he read the note. 'If you still hold true to your letter, Night says to meet her in our dorms.' Even more puzzled than before, he snuck out the door and walked back to room.

There he was tackled by a blue-haired blur. She grabbed his arm and pulled him, of all places, into Wufei's room. There, on the Chinese man's bed, lay a bright, pink dress. And not just any dress, this one was pastel pink, glittery, and the skirt poofed out at least three feet in all directions. Before he could even open his mouth, she explained. "Don't ask me where I found the dress, it's not mine, but it's not Wufei's either. And since Wufei is such a chauvinistic pig, I decided to pay him back, but I need your help. I put the dress in the closet, just a bit of it sticking out, and you have to pull off the rest. You come in to talk to him about something when he gets back and 'notice' the pink in the closet. Then you just have to attract other people's attention to it and 'Tada', he's screwed. So, what do you say? You in on this one?"

Duo's head was spinning. "Wait a minute, you've forgiven me already?"

"For what you said about me, of course. I deserved it. But what you said about my friends, that could take a while. Are you in or not?"

He nodded violently. "Embarrassing Wu-man? Absolutely. And apology accepted."

A look of shock passed over her face. "What?"

"You wanted to apologize for what you said. And I accept."

She sighed, exasperated, but grinned and lightly whacked him upside the head. "You never change."

His smirk was her only answer.

-*-

"Wufei," Duo said loudly, "Why is there something *pink* in your closet?"

The said man looked up, confused. "What?"

Quickly he covered the distance to the closet and pulled it out. "A DRESS!"

Two rooms over, Heero heard the conversation and his curiosity got the better of him. When he peered around the door frame into the other room, what he saw was something he never expected. Wufei stood on one side of the room, looking shocked and offended at the same time, while Duo was next to the closet, holding a pink princess dress with pure mischief written across his face. He just raised an eyebrow. "Interesting tastes you've developed, Chang."

Wufei growled. "It's not mine!"

That was when Night showed up. "Hey guys, I heard Trowa was . . . Duo, when did *you* start wearing drag?"

He laughed. "This, mine? I prefer blue. This is Wu-man's."

"It's not mine! And don't call me that."

The girl in the doorway just laughed. "Sure. But you have to admit, Wufei, with that dress the name certainly fits."

By now a crowd was starting to gather, and the two masterminds crept off unnoticed after Duo handed the offending article off to an onlooker. He grinned at her and ruffled her hair with one hand as they snuck off to get breakfast. It was nice to have things back to normal, but that one fight and all the hurtful things they had said still hung in the air between them.

Over the next month and a half they both tried to act like nothing had happened. Their practical jokes nearly doubled and when they were told to stop the resorted to playing them on each other. There were days where Night would have dark circles around her eyes from the trick binoculars Duo had given her or where Duo would be furious for hours because she had fooled him into thinking that his hair was falling out. But they were still edgy around each other and nothing they did could change that. A slipped comment or misspoken word here or there would trigger the memory of that one fight and suddenly an uncomfortable silence would fall between them. And yet within minutes they would have forced things back to normal, joking and flirting and teasing, generally making each others' lives a living hell.

Until the day the gundams were found.

-*-

Duo raced through the complex, his destination clear in his mind. It was only a little after eight, she would be getting back any minute. She'd been gone all morning, there was no way should could have known, and he wanted to be the first to tell her. It was great. It was one of the best things that had happened to him in the five months they'd been there. This is fucking fantastic! he thought to himself as he tore across the building, We'll finally be getting out of here! The gundams were found and now we can leave . . . 

Night was hopping out of her speeder just as he got there, grateful that her shift for the day was over and she could go back to sleep. Ever since that battle in which they had had so many casualties their guard time had been almost doubled to cover for the people they had lost, thus her leave time had changed from six thirty to eight. She was thankful that she didn't have to start out any earlier. Turning her head just in time, she saw a black blur headed her way and was barely ready when it bowled her over. "They found them, they found them!" Duo was ecstatic and almost screaming in her ear.

"Found what?" she asked, "With you yelling right down my ear I can't understand a word you're saying."

He gave an exasperated sigh. "They found the gundams! Found them and brought them here!"

A look of shock was his answer. "Brought them all here?"

Duo shook his head. "Just Deathscythe and Heavyarms. We're going to have to pick up the rest. Me and Trowa head out in the gundams, everyone else is on the transport ship. We leave as soon as . . . oh Holy, we're leaving." His eyes turned darker, then desperate as he looked towards her. "You can come with us," he exclaimed suddenly. "I'm sure they could find a reason to have you come. I mean-"

Night cut him off, her head spinning from his sudden change in direction. "What are you talking about?"

He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her to the other end of the garage where two large machines rested, heavily guarded by men and women carrying fully automatic weapons. "Now that the gundams have been found we'll be leaving here--permanently," he explained. "But I'm sure I could pull a few strings and you could be our new body guard or something, you could leave with us! I know I could make it happen."

She sighed. "My place is here, Duo. We have to keep this place running as a shelter for anyone who needs it."

Shaking his head, he grabbed her hand again. "You could be killed here."

"I could be killed anywhere, Duo. Living is a dangerous profession."

He struggled to find a response as he dragged her towards the mechs. Still nothing had been said by the time they got past the security and were right up next to Deathscythe when she pulled her hand out from his grasp. He made no move to take it back as he finally gathered his words together. "I'm not breaking a promise because I didn't promise anything that day, but please, you just have to come."

Begging was so unlike him that she was silent for a few moments before responding. "Why?"

"I love you."

Night was stunned speechless for a full thirty seconds, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she tried to regain her composure. "N-n-n-no. Duo, no. No. Absolutely not. Say you're kidding. Right now, say it. You're not serious. You can't be serious." He said nothing, merely stared her straight in the face with a hopeful look etched across his features. "Please, no. Not possible. Can't happen. Zoisite said he loved me and looked what happened to him. And we were at peace there, we're at war here! No no no no nonono."

Duo shut her up the only way he could think of--he kissed her. When she didn't respond he pulled back to see her still in shock.

"Don't you see this, Duo," she told him, her eye pleading, "Now I'm just something that can be used against you. If I'm ever captured, all they have to do is threaten harm to me and if you-- they could kill you and all they'd have to do is get they're hands on me. Not now, not while we're at war. No, Duo, please, don't you see why this can't work?"

He put both hands on her shoulders and held her still as he spoke. "That's why you have to come with us," he told her, "Don't *you* see that? We can protect each other and we won't have to worry about you getting kidnapped." Night opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off. "Please let me finish." Slowly, guiltily, she quieted, wanting and at the same time not wanting to know what he had to say. "I told you that I saw you avenge your friends but you never gave me a chance to tell you everything. That night when they died, you wanted more than anything to join them. I knew that from your expression and your actions. But something stopped you, didn't it?" Her mouth hung agape and she stared at him in shock once again, yet he still wasn't finished. "That was me. That was my voice you heard. I've protected since before I knew you and I will continue to do so now. Please, just say you love me and come with us!"

She hung her head. "I *can't* dammit! And it doesn't matter if I do or not, you have to go." Indeed he did, the transport ship was about to take off.

Duo refused to budge. "If you won't come now I'll be back for you as soon as I can."

"When this war is over, maybe. But now--go!"

Once more he grabbed her hands. "But you do love me?"

Night stared at him hard. "Is that what it will take to convince you to leave like you have to? Then no, I don't. Now get your ass into that mech and don't try to find me until you can do so without refusing to go when you have to. So leave, now, go!" She used his state of petrified shock against him, shoving him backwards until he was forced to take a step to regain his balance. A step that was the first back into his gundam.

"I love you," he said again, more forcefully as if trying to drive it into her head. "Come with us, please!"

"No!" Her voice was insistent now as she pushed him again. He let her do so, his face going slack and emotionless as if he knew he had been defeated and was giving up. The crushed look in his eyes made her want to cry. "Once you--once you're over me, come find me again and we'll be friends. But now you have to go!" She didn't even bring up what she had tried to make him promise about 'no emotional attachments', even now not crossing that forbidden taboo. Finally he was backed up all the way into the gundam and she had her hand on the door.

Duo repeated that same phrase once again. "Night, please, I love you." And she shut the door, unable to face him. Her eyes were on the floor as he climbed into the cockpit and sat in his pilot's chair, familiarizing himself with his old friend. She watched tearfully as he put the headphones over his ears, never once taking his eyes off hers, and started the engine slowly. The gundam Deathscythe gradually lifted off the ground. It was no more than three feet in the air when she spoke once again.

"My name," she whispered, "Is Mizuno Ami. And-and-ai-- aishiteru."

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oh my god it's finished. it's actually been finished. started back in early november and now it's done. excuse me while i go off some place private and faint in shock; i never thought i'd actually finish a story, much less one this long. sorry i gave it such a depressing ending but that was how the story had always gone in my head. so read and review please.

the only remaining question is: do i do a sappy romantic sequel? (please answer)


	2. Author's Notes

Dear Reader:

First off, let me say thank you for putting up with my story. There are sections I'm proud of, I have to say, but with the rest I was just trying to put it together and it didn't fit so well. So thank you for sitting through it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing the good parts. Some scenes were a lot of fun, like the Ami/Trowa fight scene, and the inevitable 'morning after.'

And as for the rest of the thanks, well I'd have to thank Jane. And apologize. I told her I wasn't going to post it when in reality all I did was change the name and put it up under a pen name no one knew about. And surprisingly enough when she figured it out thanks to a long story I won't go in to, she wasn't mad at me. So thanks for that. And thanks for beta-reading the first big piece and going through it even though it wasn't even at a good stopping point. And thanks for not killing me for not putting Makoto with Duo. Being as she was dead, that could have been more than a little ewie.

I'd be more than happy to let any of my readers archive this fic. If you really want it, just email me. No stealing. Please, no stealing. It's happened to me before and I was not happy. I got this email from someone telling me how much they liked my story and when I read it later I noticed a link at the bottom. Clicking on it I found a little site . . . that had my story archived. Not this one, another, but I was still mad. Flattered, but mad. So email me asking for it. I'd be glad to give it to you.

And even more unlikely, if you want to continue this story and take it from where I left off, again email me. It'd be cool!

Thanks again!

-Tori, the 80lb Carrot

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but so will an 80lb carrot.


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